TO INVESTIGATE CHRISTIAN AND BIBLICAL TEACHING ON

ABORTION .

BY

A RESEARCH PROJECT PRESENTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF

THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE A WARD OF THE DEGREE IN
BACHELOR OF EDUCATION ARTS ( RELIGION) OF MASINDE
MULIRO UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

December, 2016
DECLARATION
I declare that this is my original work and it has not been used elsewhere in any institution in
Kenya for the same awards of degree, diploma or certificate.

Name:

Signature…………………………

Date ………………………………

Presented to

Name……………………………………………………….

Signature…………………………

Date ………………………………
DEDICATION
This work is dedicated to my beloved Mum and Dad, and my great. friends for their continued
support financially, ideally and materially and their love for education. Dr savala for her
encouragement and advice she offered to me during the process of this process.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I thank God for giving me the strength and wisdom to fulfill my objectives of accomplishing this
work during this period of time.

I also acknowledge my family members and friends who gave me the moral support towards the
completion of this work.

RESEARCH PROJECT REL 410 PAGE 4

ABSTRACT
Many Christians say that abortion goes against the commandment, do not kill, they
believe that the foetus is anew life, so removing it is murder. They believe that God gives
life and only he can say that every child should be wanted. Thus, this study focused to
understand the response legia maria has towards abortion

Research design involved use of questionnaires, personal interviews and personal

interviews.

Finding of the study was that a foetus is potential life and thus has a right to life like any
other human beings. Carrying out an abortion is having no respect to the unborn and thus
very indecent for the mother and the person performing the abortion.

CHAPTER ONE

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1.0 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Abortion is a controversial topic that has risen in the country for decades. At root, these
problems revolve around rights. In 1973 after the 72 supreme court trials in Roe V. Wade,
they made abortion legal for women. This decision was based off the rights of privacy
coupled with the agreement between the woman and the state. Due to this decision
abortion rights vary from state to state, in fact, about 83% of united states countries do not
provide abortion services.

Philosophy states that arguments in favour of and against abortion make it evident the
most of the reasons behind this practice are egoistically motivated. Some have greater
weight than others. Philosophy tries to answer the question: is a foetus a human being or
not? If a foetus is a human being, then it should be subject to all human rights as much as
every other human being is.

If the foetus is not a human being, then killing it does not constitute any crime whatsoever,
and such a foetus is not subject of any human right either.

Liberals argue that a foetus does not become a person until birth, a woman may do
whatever she pleases in and to her own body.

Roman Catholics and Christians from other denominations believe that a child is a gift from
God. When you make love you should not exclude the possibility of conceiving. So if you
want a baby, you should not have sex. Or you should use a natural way of seeing if the
woman is in her fertile time.

I have decided to carry out the study on abortion all because the cases on abortion is
increasing day by day and mostly it causes risk to many lives.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

As the introductory background has exemplified the problem of the study examined the
Christian of response to abortion from the members,

The study posed the following questions; should abortion be allowed?, what are the likely
causes of abortion?, what are the effects of abortion?, who are the most vulnerable to
abortion?, what is the role of the church in fighting abortion?

This study helped educate the society on abortion issues and hence minimize the rate of
abortion causes. The need of carrying out this study was to address the issue of abortion.
The importance of the study was to fill the gap in knowledge about abortion.

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1.4 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The overall objectives of this study included;

1.To examine the phenomenon abortion in christian Religion.

2.To examine biblical teaching on abortion.

1.5 JUSTIFICATION AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

This study on responses to abortion has been done by others as seen in the literature
review above. Philosophers like Thompson Judith Jarvis have also had a contribution to the
study. But for me, I tackled the parts that they had not been done. This parts included:

Feeling some gap in knowledge where the society to understand the responses of
the Christian to the issue of abortion.
 Useful for enlightening the society whereby they knew on how to make life of the
mother and that of the unborn child comfortable by providing them with the basis of
life to enable the pregnancy to be carried to full term.
 Useful for planning whereby the church planned for programmes like guidance and
counseling for the youths aid and out of the school and teach them issues on
sexuality so as to reduce the cases of teenage pregnancies.
 The study was hoped to generate knowledge which could facilitate further
research into the subject area.

1.6RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1 What is the phenomenon of abortion in Christian religion?

2 What is the biblical teaching on abortion ?

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1.7 SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
1.7.0 Scope
The study was carried out in lurambi, it targeted Christians and involved a lot of collection of libraly
research .

1.7.1 Limitations
Limitations are the circumstances or situations that may affect or restrict the methods and
analysis of research data. The study may face the following limitations;

Financial constraints due to the costs that were be incurred in due cause of preparation.

Time constraints due to the fixed time schedules in planning for the study and my other
course works in place.

Insufficient secondary data some secondary data is limited and insufficient. Some external
parties were reluctant on giving their real ideas regarding my study.

Draw back in primary data collection as it does solely depends on individuals personality.

Instruments of data collection; Not all instruments were available to me since some of
them are too expensive to purchase. Some instruments ended up being faulty thus letting
down my study.

Sample the selection of the sample to consider were really be matter a lot because of the
large number of member’s.

1.8 LITERATURE REVIEW

This involves reading and noting scholarly works that are related to the research problem.
This information is obtained from textbooks, research papers and academic documents.

Daniel Bonevac (2006), Today’s moral issues, published in Mc graw Hill. The book
combines readings on varied themes: first principles, liberty, rights and responsibilities
and justice.

In part iii of the book, abortion raises notoriously difficult ethical problems. At root, these
problems seem to revolve around rights. Opponents of abortion speak of the right to life of

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the foetus while the pro-choice advocates speak of a woman’s right to life of the foetus and
the mother’s right to choose if the woman chooses to abort. Some argue that the woman
may have obligations towards the foetus inside her even if it is there through no choice of
her own. Most opposition to abortion relies on the premise that the foetus is a human
being, a person, from the moment of conception, thus has the right to life.

Is relevant to my study because he books at how various people respond to abortion. I too
will look at how the legio Maria church response to abortion.

Peter Singer (1993), Practical Ethics, published by Cambridge university press. Peter
singer wrote the book focusing on the application of ethics to difficult and controversial
social questions. The field of focus include; equality and discrimination by race, sex, ability
of species, abortion, euthanasia, embryo experimentation, disobedience, overseas and the
obligation to assist others, responsibility for environment and the treatment of refugees.

In chapter five of the book, the central argument against abortion put forward by the
conservative position in a formal way is that it is wrong to kill an innocent human being, a
human foetus is an innocent human being therefore it is wrong to kill a human being. The
liberals deny the idea that a foetus is a human being because it is always disputed on when
a human life begins.

Joanne Cleave (2001), Christianity: Behaviours Attitudes and lifestyle, published by

Heinemann in China. The book includes various issues discussed by the Christians. The
issues include euthanasia whereby the respond to voluntary and involuntary euthanasia,
abortion where they discuss the argument for and against abortion. The Christian
behaviours, attitudes and lifestyle have been systematically explained regarding to their
responses.

In chapter 3 of the book, Joanne Cleave talks of abortion as the deliberate termination of
pregnancy. He argues that abortion has been debated as an issue that has argument against
it and arguments for it. Some Christians view abortion as something that is good and others
see it as something that is evil and should not be practiced. Many Christians would say that
abortion goes against the commandments , “do not kill” they believe that the foetus is a new
life, so removing it is murder. Like Joanne cleave who has looked at how various Christians
respond to abortion, I too will look at how the church group of the legio Maria respond to
the same issue of abortion.

Saint Paul reminds Christians that Gods Holy Spirit lives in our bodies so we must not harm
them as God is there. Some Christians say that every child should be wanted. No woman
should be forced to carry a child that is not wanted. There are some Christians who would
agree to a male or female foetus being aborted in the cases of hereditary diseases,
especially some neurological illness that strike whole families.

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George Sher (1987), moral philosophy, published by Harcourt Jovanovich in united sates of
America. The book talks about the full range of problems of moral philosophy, from
metaethics to applied ethics. It combines substantial chunks of the classics, which is vital,
with some of the best of the extremely interesting work of the recent past and the present.

Moral philosophy has had a contribution to the response of abortion. It writes that most
opposition to the abortion relies on the premise that the foetus is a human being, a person,
from the moment of conception. The premise then follows that the foetus has aright to life
since every person has aright to life. The pro-choice group support that the mother has the
right to choose what happens in and to her body, but the pro-life group argue out that a
persons right to life is stronger and more stringent than the mothers right to decide what
happens in and to her body, and so outweigh it. So the foetus may not be killed, this means
abortion may not be performed.

George Shers contribution to the responses to abortion is relevant to this study because he
looks at how the pro-choice and pro-life respond to abortion. For me , I will look at how the
legio maria church responds to abortion.

1.9 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The study considered the ethical theory: this theory was advanced by Peter Singer.
Abortion is the premature termination of a foetus from the womb, legal upto 24 weeks with
the agreement of two doctors. Central to one’s views on abortion is the concept of
personhood. This explores what constitutes a person and at what point during foetal
development a person became’s a person.

J. Glover argued that determining the point at which a person becomes a person is not
logically possible; to attempt to do so would be the same as trying to define the point at
which a cake mix become’s a cake. However, various different views of personhood have
developed giving rise to a range of different ideas about the point at which a person
becomes a person.

Once we have considered the point at which a foetus can be considered as a person with
rights, we must further question what exactly are the rights a foetus deserves or perhaps
more importantly, what right the mother has over a growing foetus.

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A key contributes to the pro-choice movement which favors the right of the mother to
choose to have a termination, is J.J. Thompson. Thompson supports the feminist ethics and
uses the analogy of a violinist to support the right of the mother to decide to have an
abortion.

Peter singer developed the analogy in which a woman has accidentally became pregnant.
Her mistake permits her to have an abortion if she so desires.

1.9 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

In this chapter, the researcher discusses the procedure and strategies that will be used in
the study, that focused mainly on the following sub sections, research design, research
variables, location of the study, target population sampling technique and sample size,
development of research instruments, pilot study validity and reliability data collection
techniques and data analysis

1.9.1Research design
Kombo and Trop (2006) define research design as the scheme, outline or plan that is used
to generate answers to research problems.

The research design employed by the researcher survey. Survey was to help the
researcher to collect data in the legio maria church . The design was found to be
appropriate to the study as it described the phenomenon without manipulating the subject.

1.9.2Variables
Variable were mathematical quantity which represented several different amounts
depending on the situation and were able to be changed. They could be classified into
independent and dependent variables. Independent variable were those that could not be
manipulated they remained the same in some ways in different situations while dependent
variables were those which could be manipulated depending on different situations, for
instance in the study independent variable would be the phenomena of abortion in
Religion. While dependent variables would be the church member’s.

1.9.3Area of the study.

The study was conducted in Vihiga county , Emuhaya zone. In legio maria church.

1.9.4 Target population

The target population consists of 30 people.

Participants No.
Religious leaders 5

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Christian 15

1.9.4 Sampling techniques and sample size

Since the Christian population is very big not everyone will be involved in the research
process. Therefore there will be need of selecting a small sample from the population to
represent the entire population. The choice of manageable size of the sample to make the
task convenient to conducting the research.

1.9.5 Research instruments

The objective of the study was formed on the basis from which the research instruments
were constructed. The following instruments were constructed; research questionnaires,
interview schedule, and personal involvement in the study.

1.9.6 Pilot study

Once the research instruments are ready, the researcher piloted them on Christian area on
a small scale.. Taking The sample size used in pre-testing were be 15 respondents.

The purpose of pre-testing questionnaires was to improve on it’s quality such as increasing
or reducing the spaces, paraphrasing the sentences or removing ambiguous sentences.

1.9.7 Validity
In this part, the researcher tried to assess the validity of the questions formulated in the
questionnaires. According to Orodho (2004), validity is the degree to which empirical
measures or several measures of the concept, accurately measures the concept. For the
purpose of the study, a panel of two experienced senior lectures in the social science
department and from the research and extension department assessed the relevance of
the content used in questionnaire’s developed.

1.9.8 Reliability
Here, the researcher was to determine the reliability of the questionnaire developed.
According to Orodho (2004), reliability of measurements concerns the degree to which a
particular measuring procedure gives similar results over a number of repeated trials.

1.9.10 Data collection procedure

The principal researcher was to supervise and conduct the collection of the data in the
field with two assistants. The data was to be collected using interviews, questionnaires,
observation checklist and participation. During the research the researcher visited each
member’s choosen for the research. The first visit was to establish co-operation from
sample. Once the co-operation was solicited, the researcher booked an appointment for
briefing to the respondent.

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The main visit was meant to collect the questionnaire’s and carry out the interview. The
face to face interviews was meant to fill the gaps left out by the questionnaires.

1.9.11 Data analysis

The data collected from the field will be analyzed quantitatively. This use of descriptive
statistics or words to describe the data.

CHAPTER TWO

2.0 Biblical teaching on abortion

Introduction

The Bible clearly teaches that abortion is wrong. This teaching comes across in many ways and
for many reasons. Some people point out that the word "abortion" is not in the Bible, and that is
true. Nevertheless, the teaching about abortion is there. This is the case with many teachings.
The word "Trinity" is not in the Bible, but the teaching about the Trinity is there. In any case, a
person who wants to deny the teaching about abortion would deny it even if the word were there.

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Let’s look at some of the Biblical reasons why abortion, the deliberate destruction of a child in
the womb, is very wrong.

Click here for additional Scriptural summaries

Retreat on Scriptural Perspectives on the Pro-life Movement

Audio: Why Scripture Says NO to Abortion [Part 1] and [Part 2]

Order this brochure at the Priests for Life online store.

The Bible clearly teaches that abortion is wrong. This teaching comes across in many ways
and for many reasons. Some people point out that the word "abortion" is not in the Bible,
and that is true. Nevertheless, the teaching about abortion is there. This is the case with
many teachings. The word "Trinity" is not in the Bible, but the teaching about the Trinity is
there. In any case, a person who wants to deny the teaching about abortion would deny it
even if the word were there.

Let’s look at some of the Biblical reasons why abortion, the deliberate destruction of a child
in the womb, is very wrong.

1. The Bible teaches that human life is different from other types of life, because
human beings are made in the very image of God.

The accounts of the creation of man and woman in Genesis (Genesis 1:26-31; 2:4-25) tell us
this: "God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female
he created them" (Genesis 1:27).

The word "create" is used three times here, emphasizing a special crowning moment in the
whole process of God’s making the world and everything in it. The man and woman are

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 given "dominion" over everything else in the visible world.

Not even the original sin takes away the image of God in human beings. St. James refers to
this image and says that because of it we should not even speak ill of one another. "With
[the tongue] we bless the Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings who are made
in the image of God . . . This ought not be so, brothers" (James 3:9-10).

The image of God! This is what it means to be human! We are not just a bunch of cells
randomly thrown together by some impersonal forces. Rather, we really reflect an eternal
God who knew us from before we were made, and purposely called us into being.

At the heart of the abortion tragedy is the question raised in the Psalms: "Lord, what is man
that you care for him, mortal man that you keep him in mind? . . . With glory and honor you
crowned him, giving him power over the works of your hands" (Psalm 8:5-7).

There is the key. Not only did God make us, but He values us. The Bible tells us of a God
who is madly in love with us, so much so that He became one of us and even died for us
while we were still offending Him (see Romans 5:6-8). In the face of all this, can we say
that human beings are disposable, like a car that becomes more trouble than it is worth?
"God doesn’t make junk." If you believe the Bible, you have to believe that human life is
sacred, more sacred than we have ever imagined!

2. The Bible teaches that children are a blessing.

God commanded our first parents to "Be fertile and multiply" (Genesis 1:28). Why? God
Himself is fertile. Love always overflows into life. When the first mother brought forth the
first child, she exclaimed, "I have brought forth a man with the help of the Lord" (Genesis
4:1). The help of the Lord is essential, for He has dominion over human life and is its origin.
Parents cooperate with God in bringing forth life. Because this whole process is under
God’s dominion, it is sinful to interrupt it. The prophet Amos condemns the Ammonites
"because they ripped open expectant mothers in Gilead" (Amos 1:13).

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 "Truly children are a gift from the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward" (Psalm 127:3).

3. The Bible teaches that the child in the womb is truly a human child, who even has a
relationship with the Lord.

The phrase "conceived and bore" is used repeatedly (see Genesis 4:1,17) and the individual
has the same identity before as after birth. "In sin my mother conceived me," the repentant
psalmist says in Psalm 51:7. The same word is used for the child before and after birth
(Brephos, that is, "infant," is used in Luke 1:41 and Luke 18:15.)

God knows the preborn child. "You knit me in my mother’s womb . . . nor was my frame
unknown to you when I was made in secret" (Psalm 139:13,15). God also helps and calls
the preborn child. "You have been my guide since I was first formed . . . from my mother’s
womb you are my God" (Psalm 22:10-11). "God… from my mother’s womb had set me
apart and called me through his grace" (St. Paul to the Galatians 1:15).

4. Scripture repeatedly condemns the killing of the innocent.

This flows from everything that has been seen so far. God’s own finger writes in stone the
commandment "Thou shalt not kill" (Exodus 20:13, Deuteronomy 5:17) and Christ
reaffirms it (Matthew 19:18 - notice that He mentions this commandment first). The Book
of Revelation affirms that (unrepentant) murderers cannot enter the kingdom of heaven
(Revelation 22:15).

The killing of children is especially condemned by God through the prophets. In the land
God gave his people to occupy, foreign nations had the custom of sacrificing some of their
children in fire. God told His people that they were not to share in this sin. They did,
however, as Psalm 106 relates: "They mingled with the nations and learned their works…
They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons, and they shed innocent blood, the
blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
desecrating the land with bloodshed" (Psalm 106:35, 37-38).

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 This sin of child-sacrifice, in fact, is mentioned as one of the major reasons that the
Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrians and the people taken into exile. "They
mutilated their sons and daughters by fire…till the Lord, in his great anger against Israel,
put them away out of his sight" (2 Kings 17:17-18).

Notice that this practice was a religious ritual. Not even for "religious freedom" can the
killing of children be tolerated.

 5. The Bible teaches that God is a God of justice.

An act of justice is an act of intervention for the helpless, an act of defense for those who
are too weak to defend themselves. In foretelling the Messiah, Psalm 72 says, "Justice shall
flower in his days…for he shall rescue the poor man when he cries out and the afflicted
when he has no one to help him" (Psalms 72:7,12). Jesus Christ is our justice (1 Corinthians
1:30) because He rescued us from sin and death when we had none to help us (see Romans
5:6, Ephesians 2:4-5).

If God does justice for His people, He expects His people to do justice for one another. "Be
merciful as your heavenly Father is merciful" (Luke 6:36). "Go and do likewise" (Luke
10:37). "Do unto others as you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12). "Love one
another" (John 15:17).

Abortion is the opposite of these teachings. It is a reversal of justice. It is a destruction of

the helpless rather than a rescue of them. If God’s people do not intervene to save those
whose lives are attacked, then the people are not pleasing or worshiping Him.

God says through Isaiah, "Trample my courts no more! Bring no more worthless
offerings…Your festivals I detest…When you spread out your hands, I close my eyes to
you; though you pray the more, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood! Wash
yourselves clean…learn to do good. Make justice your aim: redress the wronged, hear the
orphan’s plea, defend the widow" (Isaiah 1:13-17).

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 Indeed, those who worship God but support abortion are falling into the same contradiction
as God’s people of old, and need to hear the same message.

6. Jesus Christ paid special attention to the poor, the despised, and those whom the
rest of society considered insignificant.

He broke down the false barriers that people set up among themselves, and instead
acknowledged the equal human dignity of every individual, despite what common opinion
might say. Hence we see Him reach out to children despite the efforts of the apostles to
keep them away (Matthew 19:13-15); to tax collectors and sinners despite the objections of
the Scribes (Mark 2:16); to the blind despite the warnings of the crowd (Matthew 20:29-34);
to a foreign woman despite the utter surprise of the disciples and of the woman herself
(John 4:9, 27); to Gentiles despite the anger of the Jews (Matthew 21:41-46); and to the
lepers, despite their isolation from the rest of society (Luke 17:11-19).

When it comes to human dignity, Christ erases distinctions. St. Paul declares, "There is
neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave or free person, there is not male and female; for
you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28).

We can likewise say, "There is neither born nor unborn." Using this distinction as a basis
for the value of life or the protection one deserves is meaningless and offensive to all that
Scripture teaches. The unborn are the segment of our society which is most neglected and
discriminated against. Christ Himself surely has a special love for them.

7. Scripture teaches us to love.

St. John says, "This is the message you have heard from the beginning: we should love one
another, unlike Cain who belonged to the evil one and slaughtered his brother" (1 John
3:11-12). Love is directly contrasted with slaughter. To take the life of another is to break
the command of love. To fail to help those in need and danger is also to fail to love.

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 Christ teaches this clearly in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), in the
story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), and in many other places.

No group of people is in more serious danger than the boys and girls in the womb. "If
someone…sees a brother in need and refuses him compassion, how can the love of God
remain in Him?" (1 John 3:17).

8. Life is victorious over death.

This is one of Scripture’s most basic themes. The victory of life is foretold in the promise
that the head of the serpent, through whom death entered the world, would be crushed (see
Genesis 3:15).

Isaiah promised, "He will destroy death forever" (Isaiah 25:8). At the scene of the first
murder, the soil "opened its mouth" to swallow Abel’s blood. At the scene of the final
victory of life, it is death itself that "will be swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is
your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?…Thanks be to God who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

Abortion is death. Christ came to conquer death, and therefore abortion. "I have come that
they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10).

The final outcome of the battle for life has already been decided by the Resurrection of
Christ. We are not just working for victory; we are working from victory. We joyfully take
a victory that has already been won, and proclaim, celebrate, and serve it until He comes
again to bring it to its fullness. "There shall be no more death" (Revelation 21:4). "Amen.
Come, Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20).

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CHAPTER THREE

3.0 ABORTION IN CHRISTIAN RELIGION

Abortion is the deliberate termination of pregnancy from the mother’s womb before it is
capable of independent life. Religion on the other hand is a particular system of belief in
god or gods and the activities that are connected with this system. Religion has had a major
contribution on abortion whereby it gives varied views on abortion.

3.1 The Early Christian tradition

Judeo – Christian tradition going back thousands of years has always valued human life,
including unborn human life. The bible repeatedly refers to children before birth as simply
very young children. One of the earliest Christian writings the Didache or the Teaching of
the 12 apostles states-‘’ you shall not kill the child in the womb or murder a new-born
infant’’.

3.2 Christianity and abortion

Christians responds to abortion in varied ways where by some of them have an argument
against abortion and some an argument fir abortion. Those for ‘’against abortion ‘’. View

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abortion as something that is wrong and must not be justified. Many Christian would say
that abortion goes against the commandments “Do not kill” . They believe that a foetus is a
new life, so removing it is a murder. Christian believes that God gives life and only he can
take it away.

Roman Catholics and Christian from other denomination believe that a child is a gift from
God. When you make love you should not exclude the possibility of conceiving. So if you do
not want a baby, you should not have sex, or you should use a natural way of seeing if the
woman ifs in her fertile time. Saint Paul reminds Christian that Gods holy sprit lives in our
bodies so we must not harm them as God is there.

Christian take a strong stand against the abortion of a child. Taking that stance comes from
a variety of unbiblical actions that eventually cause a woman to get an abortion. When
every person is responsible and accountable to God for actions, societies as a whole and
Christian in particular should take on a greater role on aiding and offering the truth and
alternative avenues for women when facing an unexpected pregnancy aside from just
telling them that abortion s immoral.

Those Christians “ for abortion” view abortion as something that is right thus justifiable.
Some christens say that every child should be wanted no woman should be forced to carry
a child that is not wanted. There are also those Christians who would agree to male or a
female foetus being aborted in the case of certain hereditary diseases, especially some
neurological illness that strikes all families. If the mother perhaps has a life-threatening
illness, then abortion would be considered justifiable, or example a deceive like high blood
pressure.

3.3The bible and abortion

Abortion is considered wrong because on how much the lord reveres life in the bible. He
sees this subject with the utmost disgust and disrespect for what he has already created.
The lord honors life and gives children as part of himself. Never does he create a child for
the purpose. He has our lives planned from the very begging and would never choose
different for us.

To have an abortion is not to take lives into our own hands. This does not honor the lord in
anything and is a great anti-abortion argument. In fact, this grieves the Lord to no end
.before we were born the Lord was knitting us together insides our mothers. A thousand
years before we came about , the Lord had amazing plans for our lives. It is not right to
take those plans for our own hands. If we want to honor the lord, then we must honor his
children no matter how it will affect us.“ Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee: and
before thou cames fourth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet
unto the nations”(Jeremiah 1:5)

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When a woman gets pregnant, always consider the baby a blessing no matter how child
was conceived. This is a great anti-abortion argument because the lord would it put a child
in anyone’s life, if he did not have great plans for it. John Noonan, one of the anti-
abortionists puts out the version of the official position of the Catholic Church, as follows;

“…it is wrong to kill humans, however poor, weak defenseless, and lacking opportunity to
develop their potential they may be. It is therefore morally wrong to kill Biafrans- similarly,
it is morally wrong to kill embryos’’.

”Scriptures indicates that God does not make a distinction between potential life and real
life or in delineating stages personhood. Some scriptures further teach that;

 People are called by God while in the womb[Jeremiah 1:5]

 Human life belongs to God, not us[Psalms 100:3]

 God relates to the unborn in a personal manner[Psalms139:13-16]

 Therefore we shall not kill[Exodus20:13]

 Do not shed innocent blood[Proverbs 6:17]

 Children are a reward [Psalms127:3]

Most of the religions do not support the act of abortion since they view it something that
is ethically wrong. Even the bible which is the word of god does not support abortion at any
level and it gives scriptures that relate to abortion. However, some religions slightly
support abortion especially in circumstances where the mother’s life is in danger.

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CHAPTER 4
4.0 Findings, Summary, Conclusion, Reccomendations.
This chapter gives a detailed summary of the preceding four chapters. In chapter one, we
have the proposal that entails the title. The title entails the main title and the sub-title. The
main title of the study is abortion and religion while the sub-title of the title is, Examination
of churches of lights responses to abortion. The introductory background gives an
introduction of the study on responses to abortion in detailed. The statement of the
problem states the problem of the study which is an examination of the church of light’s
responses to abortion.

Literature review entails the reading and noting scholarly works that are related to the
research problem. To examine the phenomena abortion in religion, to investigate the
church’s responses to abortion.

Justification and significance states why the study is warranted, indicates how the research
has refined, revised or extended existing knowledge in the area under investigation.
Research questions are derived fro the objectives.

In the scope of the study, the study took place in the legio maria church which is located in
Emuhaya area, Vihiga County. The study focused on the church members only. The
limitation of the study includes; financial constraints, time constraints, insufficient

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secondary data, draw back in primary data collection, nature of self-reporting and the
sample of the study.

The study used the ethical theory as the theoretical framework. The theory was advanced
by Peter singer and it focuses on the issue of personhood. The methodology employed was
the use of questionnaires, interviews, library research whereby each objective had its own
methodology.

In chapter 2, we have the history of the church. In chapter 3, it entails the phenomena
abortion in religions. Various religions have their own opinion on the issue of abortion.
‘’the sacred value of human life from its very beginning’’.

The early Christian tradition, specifically the Judeo- Christian tradition going back
thousands of years has always valued human life, including unborn human life.

The orthodox churches forbid abortion as going against the commandment ‘’thou shall not
kill ‘’. The protestant denominations are against abortion. The Church of England states
that the unborn child is alive and created by God. Islam religions teach that life begins at
conception and is created by God. They also say that the unborn child has certain rights
such as the right to care, protection, and life Judaism has the Torah or Jewish law that
forbids the taking of innocent life and stresses that human beings are made in the image of
God.

In chapter 4, we have the response to abortion the church condemns abortion as a grave
evil. They maintain that the Bible forbids abortion, just as forbids murder. [Exodus 21:22-
24], sees abortion as something that is totally immoral, that is to say something that is
wrong. Since it goes against the Bible. The Bible entails the 10 commandments given by
God, which, one of the commandments says ‘’you shall not kill’’. thus killing of a foetus is
going against this commandment. Also the church says that those who commit an abortion
will have to give an account to God for the abortion, for the foetus in the womb is always
regarded as created being of God.

God instructs the church to protect life of his creation. The church has an obligation to be
intimately and passionately engaged in protecting not only the lives of unborn children, but
also, mother father and communities from taking innocent lives. However, the church of
light points out that some women choose an abortion because of their lack of financial
resources, lack of familial or relational support, or because having a child would threaten
their abilities. The church mention some methods of aborting which includes use of sharp
objects like knitting needles, taking overdose, of ant-malaria tablets such as chloroquine,
visiting herbalists, quacks, taking concentrated juices, taking strong tea taken from tea
leaves.

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They also give some reasons for abortion which includes; some women feel that the
church will never understand and may even reject them, some feel they are too young to
be pregnant, some get pressure from their parents too do so and they feel they should not
disrespect their parents. Some effects of abortion as mentioned by the church include;
abortion can lead to death of the mother, guilt of going against God’s law about human life
and the fact that abortion is immoral rejection by the society, emotional and psychological
disturbances.

4.1 FINDINGS
Religion has its contribution to abortion where by various religions groups have their
views on them. The early Christian tradition going back thousands of yeas has always
valued human life, including unborn human life. The Catholic Church opposes abortion
because its believes that life is sacred and inviolable. The orthodox churches forbid
abortion as going against the commandment ‘’Thou shall not kill’’. The protestant
denominations are against abortion. However, some denominations are more pro-abortion.
Islam teaches that life begins at conception and is created by God. The unborn child has the
rights such as the right to care, protection and life. Abortion on any grounds is forbidden in
the Islamic holy book.

Judaism forbids the taking of innocent life and stresses that human beings are made in the
image of God. Buddhism argues that there is no central authority on ethical matters but the
Dali Lama has spoken in favour of abortion under certain circumstances. Hinduism refers
to abortion as womb killing and the Atharva Veda describes abortionists as the greatest of
sinners.

The legio Maria views on abortion as something that is wrong. They argue out that god
forbids abortion as seen in the Bible in the book of Exodus which says ‘’Thou shall not kill’’.
Abortion is the defilement of the body which is the temple of God. [1 st Corinthians 6; 9-20].
The unborn baby is an innocent being called to earth without its consultation.

Abortion gets the following responses in these findings;

 God forbids abortion as seen in the bible.

 A foetus is an innocent life.
 Abortion is the womb killing and the abortionists are the greatest of sinners.
 Life begins at the conception and is created by God.
 The unborn child has the rights for example to life.
 Life is sacred and should not be destroyed.

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4.2 CONCLUSION
The legio Maria views on abortion as something that is immoral, that is to say something
that is wrong. They argue out that in the Bible, God gave us the commandment ‘’ Do not
kill’’ [Exodus 20; 13], which also includes the life of foetus which should not be killed.

Abortion offends God since it s never a mere personal choice but a grave offensive against
God and his creation. A foetus has a right to life like any other human being hence killing it
is depriving it of its right to life.

A baby is always a blessing no matter how the child was conceived. The Lord would not put
a child in anyone’s life if he did not have a great plan for it. He has our lives planned from
the very beginning and would never choose differently for us. To have an abortion is to
take lives into our own hands. This does not honour the Lord in anything. In fact this
grieves the Lord to no end. If we want to honor the lord, then we must honors his children
no matter how it will affect us.

The church also says that abortion defiles a person and interferes with ones body which
belongs to God. This is quoted from the book of 1 st Corinthians 6; 9-20. The baby is an
innocent being called to life without its consultation. This means that, even in the cases of
rape, it is not the baby who should be punished by death but the guilty parties and the
society which, in most cases, is responsible for each psychic problems. Cases of rape
certainly pass great problems for mothers. Nevertheless even in those cases, the death of
the innocent remains a crime.

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However, abortion can take place in the following circumstances;

 When the pregnancy is from rape.

 When the mother’s life is endangered for example sickness that need termination of
foetus
 Becoming pregnant through ignorance, carelessness or contraceptive failure.
 When the world is overpopulated hence a means of population control

4.3 Recommendations
In the course of this study on responses to abortion, I found out that a foetus is potential
life and thus has aright to life like any other human beings. Carrying out an abortion is
having no respect to the unborn and thus very indecent for the mother and the person
performing the abortion.

The foetus has the right to the mother’s body hence should not be denied the access to it by
removing it. Killing a foetus is just like murder since the Bible support the idea ‘’ Do not
kill’’.

Abortion is a very crucial issues in the world thus it needs more dialogue about the issue
because it controversial to the biblical say.

Atheists and agnostics for life view abortion as a violation of human rights and hold the
pro-life opinions for this reason. Most of these religions are against abortion and they view
it as something wrong.

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Appendix
Questionnaire:
Instructions: please respond to this questionnaire honestly by ticking or filling in the blank
spaces appropriately. Your response will be treated with confidentiality and will only be
used for research purposes. Don’t write your name anywhere.

Section A: Personal Information

How old are you?

………………………………………………………………………………………………

Sex Male/Female?

………………………………………………………………………………………............

Section B : responses to abortion

Please tick where applicable.

1. Do you know what abortion means? Yes ( ) no ( )

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 2. If yes, what does it mean ...................................................................
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
3. If , yes where did you get information about abortion from?
Friends ( ) radio ( ) parents ( ) conference ( ) other sources specify
…………………….
4. Do you freely discuss sex matters including information about abortion with your
parents/ children? Yes ( ) no ( )
5. Do you freely discuss sex matters including information abortion at school/ church?
Yes ( ) no ()
6. Do you anyone who has undergone an abortion? Yes ( ) no ( ).
7. Do you know anyone who became ill after an abortion? Yes ( ) no ( )
8. Do you know where and how someone can have an abortion ? yes ( ) ( )
9. Does abortion have and health danger ? yes ( ) no ( ).
10. If yes, what are the health dangers of abortion that you
know?...............................................................................................................................
………………………………………………………………………………………………….

11. Is abortion legally allowed in this country? Yes ( ) no ( )

12. If no, would you recommend that government allows abortion in this country? Yes (
) no ( )
13. If yes, what is your reason? ……………………………………………………………………..
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
14. If no, what is your reason? .........................................................................................................
………………………………………………………………………………………………….
15. Would you advice or encourage any colleagues with unwanted pregnancies to
undergo abortion? Yes ( ) no ( )
16. If you were pregnant now, would you consider undergoing an abortion? Yes ( ) no (
)
17. Do you support abortion ? yes ( ) no ( )

Thank you

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REFERENCE
Christine .W. Gichure (1997), Basic Concepts in Ethics, Focus Books. Nairobi Kenya.

Daniel Bonevac (2006), Today’s Moral Issues, Mc Grawhill, USA.

Delbert l. Miller Nei .Salkind 2002 Hand Book of Research Design and Social

Measurement 6th edition London, New Delhi

Edward Scribner (1940), Religion, Henry Holt and Company, Chicago.

Emmy M Gichinga (2002), Answers for Unmarried Mothers, Uzima Press, Nairobi- Kenya.

Frankfort, D.Nachmias, 1996, Research Methods in Social Sciences 5th edition,

London, British Library.

George Sher (1987), Moral Philosophy, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich,USA.

Joanne Cleave (2001), Christianity: Behavior, Attitudes and Lifestyle, Heinman, China.

Mc Whiter (1993), At –Risk Youth, Brooks Publishing Company, Carlifornia.

Orton Willey (1943), Christian Theology, Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City.

Peter singer (1993), Practical Ethics, Cambridge University press New York.

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R. Kerre (1989), God Meets us C.R.E. EAEP, Nairobi.

Robin Gill (1977), Theology and Social Structure, Mowbrays London and Oxford, Bristol.

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